Eric Ronald Holder sits in the courtroom at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center ahead of his sentencing for first-degree murder in the 2019 shooting of Grammy-winning rapper Nipsey Hussle in Los Angeles, California, US, on September 15, 2022.
Image: Apu Gomes /Pool via REUTERS
Eric Ronald Holder sits in the courtroom at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center ahead of his sentencing for first-degree murder in the 2019 shooting of Grammy-winning rapper Nipsey Hussle in Los Angeles, California, US, on September 15, 2022.
A California man was sentenced to at least 60 years in prison on Wednesday for the 2019 killing of Grammy-winning rapper Nipsey Hussle.
The murder occurred after a chance encounter in the south Los Angeles neighborhood where the men grew up. Last July, a jury found Eric Holder Jr guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting Hussle outside a clothing store the rapper owned.
On Wednesday, a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge sentenced Holder to 25 years to life in state prison, plus an additional 25 years to life because he used a gun in the slaying.
Ten more years were added for shooting two bystanders. District Attorney John McKiney: “Today, we close the final chapter on what has been one of the saddest stories in recent L.A. history…This one really resonates, right? Because Nipsey Hussle meant a lot, not just to L.A. County and in the nation in some sense, and had fans around the world. But to the community where he was from. He was a leader. He was an inspiring figure. He was Neighborhood Nip.”
The public defender for Holder acknowledged that Holder killed Hussle but argued it was in “the heat of passion” after Hussle told him there were rumors that Holder had cooperated with police.
Holder did not testify during the trial.
Hussle, who was 33 when he died, had publicly acknowledged that he joined a gang as a teenager.
He later became an activist and entrepreneur as he found success with rap music and collaborated with artists including Snoop Dogg and Drake.
In 2020, Hussle won two posthumous Grammy awards.
